Page 62 of The Exile's Curse

"No matter," Chloe said. "I was enjoying the peace and quiet out here. And admiring the tapestries." She threw the last out in case Lady Cela might also confess a fervor for the maintenance of Andalyssian traditions and culture. But, instead, she barely glanced at them and then gestured toward the ballroom and smiled at Chloe.

"Let's walk back. But slowly. I have so many questions."

Chloe had a few of her own. But Cela’s too-convenient timing had done nothing to ease her doubts about the woman. So she would hold her tongue and ask them elsewhere.

She answered Cela’s questions, which seemed innocuous, as they walked back to the ballroom, then excused herself to look for Honore. But her search was cut short when the music started up again and she had to join the dancing once more.

Half a hundred questions of her own whirled around her mind for the few remaining sets. She searched the dancers for the man who'd approached her but didn’t find him. Though one of her partners confirmed that none of the noble houses—vassal or otherwise—wore only dark blue. Which only added to the problem.

The last dance ended, and Mikvel and Katiya finally departed. Chloe stepped off the dance floor to find Lucien waiting. Which was convenient, as she had decided, after much debate with herself, that she should tell him rather than Honore about the man in the corridor. At least initially. After all, he was from the judiciary. Crimes against the emperor were his responsibility. Besides which, he knew more about what Charl had done and who else had been involved than anyone else on the mission.

"Lord Castaigne," she said, feigning a smile. "Come to escort me back to my quarters again?"

His brows flew upward, and she realized that, perhaps, that wasn't the best way to phrase that question. To the wrong man, it sounded rather like she might be issuing an invitation to something more than a late-night stroll through the palace corridors. Her cheeks went hot.

"There is something I need to discuss with you,” she continued in a rush. “So, although I am in no need of an escort, perhaps we can walk together." She glanced around the rapidly emptying ballroom. No sight of Gilles, but Honore was talking with Roland. Their faces were both focused and intent, making her think they were probably discussing scheduling or some other administrative minutiae. Nothing requiring her presence. Her instructions had been to attend the ball. She had done that, and she had the sore feet to prove it. The invitation to treason was an unexpected addition.

But that was a burden to place in Lucien's hands rather than the colonel's. So better to make their getaway now.

"Shall we go?" she said to Lucien, who was regarding her with a slightly bemused expression.

"After you, my lady."

She said nothing until they had left the ballroom well behind them and reached a quieter part of the palace, headed for the guest quarters. There were more servants than the previous evening, but with the wedding growing ever closer, that was to be expected. They’d be working all hours of the day to ensure that all the guests were housed in perfect comfort, fed, and entertained.

For a moment she was, once again, very glad not to be Katiya, who would soon take on the job of managing the vast building for the rest of her life.

"Am I supposed to guess?" Lucien asked as they turned a corner.

"Guess?"

"What you wanted to talk about?"

Her encounter outside the retiring room. Her musings on Katiya’s life had temporarily distracted her. She shivered as she remembered the fervent look on the stranger’s face. "I think it's better discussed in private."

Lucien’s brows lifted. Then he pointed at a door standing partially open a few feet down the hallway. The palace was dotted with small rooms used for meetings or gatherings of courtiers or to hide away from court life when one had had enough for a time. A palace was like a small town. People forced to live in close quarters who might not choose to do so otherwise. But small towns demanded less time given to games of status and protocol. Power and politics required time and effort and too much time in the company of others. Giving the courtiers space was important to prevent the inevitable frictions from boiling over into something more.

"Here?" she asked.

"Well, it's better than either of us being seen entering the other's bedroom at this hour, don't you think? Unless you have suddenly decided you no longer dislike me and were inviting me to...." He raised one brow.

Damn the man. Why did he have to look good arching a brow? And be so reasonable? "No. I haven't lost my mind,” she said, the words a tad sharp. “But you're right. No point risking breaking some Andalyssian taboo and causing trouble. I just want to talk," she managed.

"Then after you, Lieutenant."

The lamps in the little room were alight, which seemed a waste, but at least that meant she wouldn’t be alone in the dark with him.

Lucien closed the door and pressed his palm briefly to the wall. Magic shimmered around him, tolling through her, as a ward sparked to life.

The ease with which he raised the ward in a strange building was impressive. "Neatly done," she said, stepping closer to study the ward. Not a form she was familiar with, but it hummed with Lucien's magic. Deep and true and...intriguing. She stepped back hastily.

"Wards are part Air," he said. "I know we all learn them, but illusioners study them more than most. Plus, they come in handy in the judiciary. You don't want someone walking in and interrupting an interview with a suspect at the wrong time."

"No, I suppose not." It wouldn’t be helpful to be interrupted when he was using his magic. Truth Seekers negated the need for harsher interrogation methods, but they were also bound by protocols on how they deployed their powers. Suspects were questioned by mundane means first, and he’d told her once that mood and atmosphere were important in encouraging them to talk.

The room held only two small sofas separated by a low table. Arranged for intimate conversations. The kind she had no desire to have with Lucien. She stayed standing.

So did he. "So, what did you want to discuss?"

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